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RICKY DILLARD & NEW G
Since the age of three, Ricky Dillard watched church choirs. His Grandma used to stand Little Ricky on top of his baby potty and he would direct and sing. At five years old, he began directing the junior choir at St. Bethel Baptist Church. In 1981 he formed the first gospel choir at Bloom High School. "There were so many church kids there and they liked to sing," he says. "So, I started a group called Ricky Dillard and Company and we sang at school. One of my teachers, Don Bondurant, said, 'you should start a gospel choir' and I did." In spite of his love for performing, Dillard thought his future lay in radio announcing. He attended Columbia College for a couple of years, but dropped it because "The curriculum bored me and I was really tired of school anyway." He took a job as a front desk clerk at a Holiday Inn and later worked as a file clerk while performing in a professional back-up group called Love, Salvation & Devotion (LSD) on the weekends.

In 1984, Dillard joined the late Milton Brunson's Thompson Community Singers. At the same time, he started hanging out with renowned club DJ Frankie Knuckles and began recording dance and hip-hop records. Aside from a half dozen-guest appearances on various dance tracks, Dillard recorded his own album "Let The Music Use You" which was released in Europe and was imported into the United States. In spite of his growing success in the club market, Dillard says, "My heart was in the gospel. I always wanted to do gospel. The other stuff was just an opportunity to record. I wanted to bring a more contemporary style into gospel for choirs." It's those contemporary innovations in gospel that have caught Kirk Franklin and the Winans explaining their motivations to the more sanctified members of the church at times. "I don't criticize because I believe all music was created to praise God and all we're doing is taking back what the devil stole from us and using it to please God."

Dillard says God led him to found the New Generation Chorale in 1988. The next year they won the McDonald's Chicagoland Choir competition. One day he met producer Butch McGee in a parking lot. McGee had heard of him and signed Dillard's group on their reputation alone. New G's first album "The Promise" was released in 1990 and won them a Grammy nomination and a GMWA Excellence award in 1991. The next year the choir was featured in Steve Martin's movie "Leap of Faith." By the time their second live album "A Holy Ghost Take Over" debuted in 1993, Dillard was a consultant on Whoopie Goldberg's "Sister Act II" movie and the choir had appeared on a PBS Television Special "Going Home To Gospel" featuring Patti La Belle and Albertina Walker.